How many rich people are still admired five centuries after their death for what they did with their money?
...consider these role models: Prince Henry the Navigator, King Ferdinand, Queen Isabella. Prince Henry ensured his place in history textbooks by financing the 15th-century Portuguese expeditions down the African coast that began the Age of Exploration. Then Ferdinand and Isabella sponsored Columbus, turning themselves into permanent one-name celebrities: a Brad and Angelina for the ages.
Needed one JJ Harriman

My bet from the 90s still stands. I say NASA never sends a crew to Mars. Ever. Instead, a privately financed mission goes in the late 2030s. Nanotech enabled hardware and wetware (e.g. 'humans' engineered rad tolerant). VASIMIR or some other short flight propulsion.